


we're all pieces in the game called life

by staccato



Category: Code Geass
Genre: Gen, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-23 17:22:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17687702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/staccato/pseuds/staccato
Summary: Lelouch loses the chess match, but wins the war.





	we're all pieces in the game called life

The plan had been perfect—win the chess match, get Kallen to escort Suzaku out, and use geass on everyone else at the wedding.

There was just one problem: Lelouch had never won a chess match against Schneizel before.

He had hoped that eight years of gambling against nobles would have improved his skills somewhat, at least to the point that he could tie with Schneizel, but…

Apparently, that’s not the case.

“Checkmate,” Schneizel declares after two hours, leaning back into his seat. “I have to admit, Zero. That was a good game. I have not played against such a challenging opponent in a long time, now.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Lelouch demures, even though the game had not been his focus for an hour now. About midway through, he had realized he would lose, and had spent the rest of it devising new strategies that would enable him to escape the trick situation he had gotten himself into.

If he could do that, this chess match wouldn’t be important. It’ll just be another one that Lelouch lost to.

It’s the war that’s important, and Lelouch is almost sure he can win that, now.

After all, he muses, as he glances to the person standing beside Schneizel, his brother has always valued family and love over everything else.

And he absolutely cannot stand betrayal.

“Now then, as our agreement—if you would please, Zero,” Schneizel says, gesturing to his face.

Kallen steps forward, an arm thrust out to block Lelouch from view. “Wait a minutes, Zero doesn’t—”

“Q1,” Lelouch commands, and Kallen falters. “I made a promise. I do not intend to break it.”

She frowns. “But…”

Lelouch places a gloved hand on her arm. “Get back. I will not ask again.”

Kallen presses her lips into one thin line, but nods, returning to her place behind his chair. “Yes, Zero,” she says with a small tilt of her head, thought her body is tense, ready to jump into action.

“I appreciate your cooperation in this matter,” Schneizel adds.

“Of course,” Lelouch says, raising his hand to cup his mask. His finger find the trigger and presses down, the mask releasing with a hiss. He takes a deep breath before pulling it away from his face, shaking his hair in the process. Then, finally, he raises his head.

If the situation wasn’t serious, he might have laughed at the reaction he receives. Most of the guests all have stumbled a step backward, as if there had been a bomb underneath the mask; they look confused upon observing a school boy, even incredulous. Murmurs and gasps erupt as they glance between his face and the mask he holds.

But Lelouch couldn’t care less about the peanut gallery. Instead, he focuses on the people right in front of him. Suzaku has gone still, glaring at with him hatred burning in his eyes and his hands clenched as if to prevent himself from wrapping them around his neck, like he did months ago in that cell in St. Petersburg. Kanon Maldini has a furrow between his eyebrows, his head cocked, as if he thought his face was familiar but couldn’t discern where exactly he had seen it. And Schneizel…

“Well, this is certainly a surprise,” he says, blue eyes never wavering from Lelouch’s own.

Lelouch chuckles, uncrossing then re-crossing his legs, the picture of casualness. “This would be the first time I’ve ever managed to do so, then.”

“Not for a lack of trying, however.”

“Indeed.”

“Excuse me, Your Highness,” Gino Weinberg interrupts, stepping forward. “But do you know this person?”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” Schneizel replies. “Gino, this is my younger brother, Lelouch vi Britannia.”

Gino immediately freezes. “…Lelouch vi Britannia?” he repeats, almost silently. “Vi Britannia? You’re the son of Marianne the Flash?”

Lelouch arches an eyebrow. “A fan, are you?”

“Who isn’t?” Gino blurts, before Anya Alstreim elbows him in the stomach and shoots him a look, no doubt berating him for conversing with a terrorist.

“I mainly go by Lelouch Lamperouge, these days,” Lelouch adds.

Schneizel hums. “That’s right. You gave up your claim to the throne.”

“Yes, I did,” Lelouch confirms. "I had no interest in being part of a family who only values the strong and destroys the weak. I still don’t.” he raises his mask, and notes, with some amusement, that people actually flinches at the action. “That’s why I founded the Black Knights, after all. To correct that injustice.”

“A noble pursuit,” Schneizel murmurs.

Lelouch flashes him a grin. “I thought so, as well. In any case, big brother, what will you do now that you’ve unmasked me?”

Schneizel hesitates. “…it is regrettable, Lelouch, but you need to answer for you actions. I will bring you to Father, and he will decide your punishment—”

He breaks off as Lelouch begins to laugh, hysterical and full of amusement. “Ah, but Schneizel, the Emperor already knows.”

“Excuse me?”

“The Emperor already knows my true identity,” Lelouch repeats, raising an arm to point his index finger at the boy on Schneizel’s right. “Don’t you remember? A year ago, an Honorary Knight named Suzaku Kururugi caught Zero during the failed Black Rebellion. For his service, he was rewarded the title of the Knight of Seven.”

All the attention in the room shift to Suzaku, who seems oblivious to it all. It is only when Schneizel calls his name does his burning gaze leave Lelouch’s face. “Sir Kururugi,” Schneizel says, not even having turned his head. “Is what he says the truth? Does my father already know?”

“…yes, Your Highness,” Suzaku answers. “His Majesty is aware of the fact.”

“And, as you can see, he had wrought no punishment upon me,” Lelouch interjects, spreading his arms wide. “Really, it’s almost as if he approves of my actions.”

“Approves of your actions?” Suzaku hisses, hand going to his sword. “You murdered Euphie!”

Schneizel’s gaze sharpens, no longer as thrown off by these revelations as Lelouch had hoped he would continue to be. “You killed Clovis too, as I recall.”

Lelouch meets his eyes head on, refusing to flinch. After all, looking away is one of the most common tells of lying. “Yes, I did. But big brother, I had no choice in the matter.”

“No choice—!”

Schneizel raises a hand, and Suzaku falls silent. _Still an obedient puppy, after all,_ Lelouch thinks vindictively.

“Would you mind elaborating on that claim, Lelouch?” Schneizel requests, as Lelouch had predicted he would. Unlike Suzaku, Schneizel does not allow his temper to rule his actions. Instead, he is willing to hear the other side of the story before making judgements. He is a pragmatist, who prefers to avoid spilling unnecessary blood. This is why he was chosen to be the Prime Minister; this is why he is the unofficial heir of the Imperial Throne.

This is why Lelouch will win this war.

“But of course,” Lelouch agrees, and starts. “Big brother, haven’t you ever wondered what happened to me and Nunnally, after we were banished to Japan?”

Schneizel inclines his head silent agreement.

“As you might recall, the Emperor intended to use us as political hostages, to appease the Japanese Government for a little while as he finishes the last bit of preparations for war. Thus, we were sent to the home of the Prime Minister.”

“Genbu Kururugi, was it?”

 _Bless his incredible memory._ “Yes. That is where we met his son and heir, Suzaku.”

Schneizel’s eyes flit to peer at Suzaku, possibly waiting for him to contradict Lelouch’s statement. He doesn’t, of course. Lelouch had said nothing but the truth.

So far.

“Against all odds, we became friends. In fact, he might be the first and only friend I’ve ever made,” Lelouch continues, drawing the attention back to himself. “Of course, that was before the war began. That was before Suzaku murdered his own father for his selfish beliefs.”

“You’re lying,” Schneizel refutes immediately. “Everyone knows Prime Minister Kururugi committed suicide.”

Lelouch smirks, and leans back in his seat, waving an imperious hand. “Go on, then, Suzaku. Tell them I’m lying. Tell them the truth.”

Suzaku has never had a good poker face. Not when he was ten, and not when he is eighteen; Lelouch takes great enjoyment watching conflicting emotions battle against each other, his face as the battleground, before resignation emerges as the victor. “He’s not lying, Your Highness,” he says stiffly.

“…I see,” is all that Schneizel says.

“With Genbu dead, the rest of the government fell apart easily. The bureaucrats scattered, and Suzaku was taken along with Taizo Kirihara. But none of them spared a thought for the two Britannian children, and I can’t blame them.”

Lelouch is so, so glad Milly is still on the balcolny. If she had been in the room, she would have immediately jumped in to contradict him, otherwise. After all, the Ashfords had come for them as soon as they were notified of their location.

“And so Nunnally and I were left to wander Japan for a while, hopeless and helpless. But one day, we happened upon another Britannian boy. For all appearances, he looked normal, except for a very strange symbol upon his forehead. I shouldn’t have trusted him—after all, what child would just be wandering around warzone?—but we had no choice. There was no one else we could turn to for help.

“And at first, he did help us. He gave us food and water and somehow even found a wheelchair for Nunnally, and promised to take us to a safe location. But when we arrived, we realized his intention were anything but good,” here, Lelouch closes his eyes, as if he is bracing himself to relive a particular traumatizing memory. Only after a few tense moments have passed down he open them again. “You see, he was trying to find live subjects to experiment upon.”

Schneizel blinks at him. “You’re talking about human experimentation. You do realize—”

“—how ridiculous it sounds?” Lelouch finishes for him. “But what if I can show you proof?”

“Please, by all means.”

Lelouch reaches up, and in one smooth motion, removes his contact. He can feel his left eye burn with the power of geass. When he looks up again, everyone who has a clear view to his eyes flinch away.

Well, except for Lloyd Asplund, who leans forward in interest. “That’s new.”

Lelouch ignores him. “This is the sigil of the power that was granted to me via the experiments that were performed on me. It doesn’t disappear no matter whatever I do.”

“A sigil of your power…” Schneizel murmurs. “And what do your power actually do?”

Instead of answering directly, Lelouch turns his head to stare at an attendee in the eye. “Lelouch vi Britannia commands you—hop on one foot five times, then crow like a rooster.”

The geass takes effect immediately, and the man does as ordered, while the rest of the guests observe him, absolutely stupefied.

“Dear!” the woman besides him exclaim, reaching for his arms as he jumps in place. “What are you doing? Please cease this behavior at once!

But the man does not listen. He only returns to awareness when he has finished doing as Lelouch commanded, and turns bright red when he notices everyone staring at him.

“W-what?” he mutters.

Lelouch raises his hand to caress the skin around his eye. “I’ve been referring to it as a power, but they liked to call it a geass. A geass of absolute command, is what they called mine. As you saw, it can force anyone to do anything, and causes a small lapse in memory afterwards.”

Schneizel bites his lips, the first sign of uncertainty that he’s shown all night. “Does Nunnally also have this ability?”

Lelouch shakes his head. “Nunnally was too physically weak to be experimented upon, though she was used as a tool to force my cooperation. There were other subjects, of course, but the results of these experiments were completely random, different for each subject. For some, it granted them immortality. For another boy, it allowed him to stop people’s perception of time. And for Father—”

“Father? Father has this ability too?”

“Of course,” Lelouch responds easily. “How do you think he, of all the other royal children, survived the ‘emblem of blood’ era and rose to become the Emperor of Britannia?” he doesn’t give Schneizel a chance to respond. “He can manipulate memories. Isn’t that right, Suzaku?”

“Kururugi?” Schneizel questions when Suzaku doesn’t respond. Lelouch notes, with some satisfaction, that Schneizel has dropped Suzaku’s title. “Is what my brother says true? Does my father have a geass?”

“…yes, Your Highess,” Suzaku finally says. “Zero is telling the truth—His Majesty does indeed have that ability.”

“And why don’t you tell him how you found out about it?” Lelouch adds.

Suzaku hesitates, but one harsh glare from Schneizel is quick to make him talk. “I personally witnessed His Majesty using it on Zero, after I had captured him. He rewrote Zero’s memories and made him believe he was a loyal military advisor to Britannia, and sent him to St. Petersburg to carry out His Majesty’s will.”

“You might have heard of me,” Lelouch adds loftily. He had picked up the piece of the black king and is now twirling it between his fingers. “Father was kind enough to give me a new name: Julius Kingsley.”

Schneizel’s head snap to his direction once again. “Julius Kingsley? The Ark Fleet plan—that was you?”

Lelouch shakes his head. “That was Julius Kingsley. I would have never devised a plan with a civilian count that high. And since Kingsley’s actions went against my very nature, I broke through the brainwashing somewhat, enough to reveal that I was Lelouch vi Britannia. We were imprisoned by Euro Britannia, before being rescued by the Order, the organization that experimented with me. It was led by V.V., the immortal child I mentioned previously, and his twin brother, Charles zi Britannia.”

Lelouch is aware that his story is not coherent, that it is not chronological—and that is his intention. He cannot paint a clear picture of the situation, not when most of the canvas is riddled with holes. But with this—by jumping around the sequence of events, he can draw his audience’s attention to the things that matter. To the things that are true. To the things that will unsettle and horrify Schneizel, enough to prevent him from looking closer at the parts he glossed over; enough to make him rethink Zero’s actions; enough to question the foundation of Britannia itself.

Enough to expose a weakness that Lelouch can exploit to _win_.

Of course, his story does not align what Suzaku has been told by V.V. and Charles, and his _friend_ will no doubt try refute his more…inaccurate statements, but it is no matter. Suzaku has already confessed to killing his father and betraying his best friend, two acts Schneizel cannot approve of. He has already lost his respect for Suzaku, and he will lose his trust in him soon enough.

Besides, at the end of the day, Suzaku Kururugi is just an Eleven, and Schneizel will always take his brother’s words over a Number’s. Especially Lelouch’s. He’s always been Schneizel’s favorite.

It will be enough.

**Author's Note:**

> i've recently finished watching code geass, and couldn't get this scene out of my head, so i wrote it instead of studying for my midterms. yes, i'm aware it doesn't make any sense (ex. where is nina?). i'm sorry.
> 
> nevertheless, if you did enjoy reading it, please give a kudo and a comment! i appreciate any and all constructive criticism.


End file.
